Sheesharee said: I'm trying to grasp putting the ornaments in the middle section. If you don't have enough to fill wouldn't it look like the color is just in the middle? I don't think I'm explaining this right. I don't think your trees look like there's vertical color in the middle. It's all well balanced. Back to Me: I will try to explain it better, sorry, so much easier to show someone in person LOL. OK, what I ment was you would put a large amount of the plain gold balls (in this case) in the internal part of the tree. You can place them sporadically inside the tree making sure though you start at the inside (where the trunk is) with the plain gold balls. Let me make this part more clear with what I deal with. Primary decorative ornaments I want to be able to see easily: Primary tree decorations. The pretty red decorative balls. The crystal drops. The glass icicles. The silk flowers,in this case red(this is something I choose to use) Secondary: The plain inexpensive gold balls. These are ment primarily for the inside "stuffing of the tree", BUT, some are used in a much smaller amount on the outside areas of the tree (parts you can see) for bringing in the gold ball as a SMALL ACCENT. So in answer to your question you would be treating your plain balls as a filler and tiny accent, NOT as the primary decoration. You would be using the PRIMAIRY balls on the outside, icicles, crystal drops, silk flowers. So that means you would buy 100 or so of the cheap balls for the inside and small outside accents. You would then be buying the PRIMARY balls, crystals, icicles in much larger amounts (I use at least a total of 300-500 of these primary items) Now my DD doesn't like as much as an over kill tree as me (although anyone coming to her home and seeing her tree is just in awe of it) So she uses the same items as I do basicly, but cuts the amount of ornament down to about HALF of what I do, and I think her tree is very beautiful. Now, I am just explaining how I decorate a tree, it doesn't mean that it is everyone elses taste. In the evolution of your tree you will come to the realization of what is best for you. My tree that I am doing this year was an evolving process, it took me quite a few years to get where I am, that is because since I am not wealthy, I have to do it a little bit at a time every year. I am happy to say, that I don't think I have to buy any more for the cream, crystal, and gold tree. Thank goodness! LOL Oh, yes, and as a bonus I can used the glass icicles and crystals with any color theme of tree, they fit right on in, so that saves me money too. This is an example of my cream color theme on some stacking plates. Does that make more sense?

There is expanding and contracting but I personally think installation is a real biggie. We had new Shaw carpet installed in our house a few years ago and the installers....well, they shouldn't be doing it for a living. Tired of fighting the whole issue and just wanting it to be over, we paid a well known local carpet installer to fix it and stretch it right. That was four years ago and we haven't had any problems since. I'll never have anything to do with Shaw again because they wouldn't send out different installers and wouldn't make it right. Makes me mad again thinking about the whole thing. The people I know that have carpet and the installers didn't use stretchers always, always have rippling later. The installation also effects how it wears. Even if they use stretchers, if the installer doesn't know what they're doing.... My parents paid a pretty penny years ago for some really nice carpet. It was installed properly and they've never had any problems. My advice would be make sure you find someone good. Get references and do what you need to do. Hope this helps!

I fall in the more-is-more style of decor so layering is arranging several things on a table or other surface in a harmonious way. For example I might use a runner, a lamp, a plate on a plate stand, a plant, a statue, and a decorative box all together on a buffet or hall table. Or I might use several candles in candlesticks arranged in a group perhaps on a silver tray. Another example is using several pillows of different sizes or shapes on a sofa or bed with some arranged in front of others and a throw as well. One thing I like to do is overlap framed pictures on my mantel. Using an area rug on top of carpet is more extreme layering. I think layering has to do with embellishing, textures, as well as patterns. The layered look, while the term may be fairly recent, goes way back. Victorians decorated this way with the layers of window treatments and doilies under every tschotske and ornament. There are some styles in which layering works better than others I believe. Contemporary style would lend itself to less or even no layering whereas English country cottage, Victorian, even Traditional almost require it.

Yes, the corrugated box stuff would work. And believe me, they also love old WICKER. Oh dear yes, I had a problem with my cats clawing the arms of a wicker sofa. Never heard of the cat liking to claw rubber, but they have some pretty unusual cravings. Yes, OldGardener, the store bought posts do tip over, when you have an enthusiastic scratcher of any size at all. Marti, your cat sounds very independent, and phobic. Like my little boy maltese, he remembers which vet "did him in," and he growls at him every time. And my parrot knows that when I bring out the carrier he is headed to the vet, unless I've spent days packing. So yes, they are smart smart critters. Good luck with the tranquilizer. The one we were given for our cats, to calm them down for a 1500 mile trip, only made them drunk, and they meow-meow-meow like dripping water torture for the WHOLE TRIP, TWO DAYS. It was the LAST time I went anywhere with cats, and is the reason I have no cats these days. Good luck.